ANATOMIE

SYNOPSIS:
Munich medical student Paula Henning (Franka Potente) has just realised her greatest dream
– she’s been accepted into the prestigious Heidelberg medical school. In doing
so, she follows in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, both of whom are doctors.
When she and her friend Gretchen (Anna Loos) arrive in Heidelberg, they’re subjected
to some student high jinks, led by Hein (Benno Furmann), involving corpses in the anatomy
lab. But as Paula becomes immersed in the intellectual rigour of the anatomy class run by
Professor Grombeck (Traugott Buhre), she begins to suspect what’s going on is more
sinister than mere pranks and soon her own life is in danger.

"If you don't mind plot holes as wide as the Rhine, Anatomie is a decent enough
exploitation flick which is executed with a little polish to make it more palatable. What
you won't find palatable if you're at all squeamish are the grisly scenes of dissections
and sundry scalpel work which are liberally sprinkled through this silly exercise in
medical madness. The big plus here is Franka Potente, minus the red shock top she sported
in Run Lola Run but with the same star power - which certainly helps when we're asked to
swallow increasingly ludicrous twists and turns. Other plusses include a zesty performance
by Anna Loos as Paula's man-hungry blonde roommate Gretchen and energetic direction by
Austrian Sefan Ruzowitsky, who can't be accused of being indifferent to the task at hand.
Anatomie, the first film from German Columbia Pictures Film Production Company, is, in the
end, just another megalomaniac medicos on the loose picture that doesn't stand up to close
scrutiny but you could do worse. I was less puzzled by the spooky goings-on in the lab
than I was by the decision to retain the German spelling on advertising here when the
title which appears on screen is 'Anatomy'"Richard Kuipers

"Finally, someone has made a "conspiracy" movie that induces gasps
rather than sniggers from the audience. German filmmaker Stefan Ruzowitzky brings plenty
of chills and suspense to this often intriguing film, which is everything the sadly
mishandled The Skulls wasn’t. Although the plot lapses into some pretty
stock-standard stuff (and silly) territory towards the end, it nonetheless manages to
convey with credibility the idea that a secret society could be involved in the shady
goings-on in the new anatomy building. Ruzowitzky clearly has studied the work of earlier
German directors like Fritz Lang, paying homage to the great expressionist films of the
1920s and ‘30s. The angular building with its sparse artificially lit interior throws
dramatic shadows across the screen, heightening the tension as the drama unfolds.
Thankfully the scriptwriters resist the temptation to reveal the real bad guys until well
into the film. A word of warning for the squeamish – there are scenes in this film
which will make your science lab frog dissection seem like a stroll in the park. Franka
Potente is again terrific as Paula, a character far removed from her funky saviour in Run
Lola Run. Traugott Buhre is also completely convincing as the meticulous Professor
Grombeck. The younger men in the cast get less scope to show their talents, although Benno
Furmann as Hein is credible in an ever-shifting role. Although it has a number of
blemishes, Anatomie is nonetheless a taut, engrossing thriller that will linger in the
memory." David Edwards